DaManDL's Page

Born in the Bronx in 1973, it’s not by mere coincidence that DaManDL and hip-hop have never been separated at birth.

His earliest forays into the culture started at age 3 when he started sifting through his father’s records.  He would sit and watch record after record spin on the platter. Growing up in the borough credited with being the birthplace of hip-hop, he happened to bear witness the growth of the culture from the streets to the record stores.  He spent much of his weekly allowance on the newest releases from the Enjoy and Sugarhill catalogues.

His musical tastes are not just limited to hip-hop however.  Thanks to the southern roots of his parents, he is extremely well-versed in soul music – having an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the music and the key artists.  He kept his ears glued to the various party tapes that came from all over the Bronx and Harlem as well as what was on the radio.  Disco, Hip-Hop, R&B.  Frankie Crocker, 92 KTU and then later KISS-FM, P-Fine, Awesome Two, Mr. Magic, Red Alert.  Pause tape after pause tape filled his dresser each week.

It wasn’t until 1991 in his freshman year at St John’s University that he started applying all of those years of music into the turntables.  Teaming with his boy DJ Parallel from Co-Op City, they formed a crew called Around The Way Productions, the premier mobile set on campus from 1992-1995 complete with fog machines, a light show and 2 DJs spinning simultaneously on 4 turntables.  They were at the helm of a classic campus party thrown by Phi Beta Sigma, Inc. which was videotaped and later aired on Video Music Box in 1995.

After a short break from the active DJ scene, DaManDL resurfaced into active duty in 2009 creating a podcast site (http://DaManDL.podOmatic.com) and forayed into the online radio scene, specializing in “the classics.”  His podcast site alone has garnered him gigs at such venues as Zereoue, Katra and the Vudu Lounge in NYC and a loyal following internationally.  He is represented by Ruxpin Entertainment and has worked with in some capacity industry figures like Kid Capri, DJ Clue? and Audra The Rapper (Maybach Music Group).

If you were to ask him what makes him stand out from other DJs and he’ll say “Despite what terrestrial radio and records labels try to force down our throats, I make it an effort to not play what I don’t like.  All power to the DJ, as it used to be and as it should be.  People feel my energy and dedication to my library and that’s good enough for me.”

The Music Encyclopedia aka Mr. Throwback aka DaManDL brings you “JUST GOOD MUSIC” every time out.  From breakbeats to reggae to R&B to classic hip-hop to disco (and then some), as he’ll say, “I got a lot of damn records!”

Facebook: http://facebook.com/DaManDL

Twitter: @DaManDL